Mustangs Cap Undefeated YSCC Campaign on Senior Night

Auburn, ME – CMCC Men's Soccer completed its fourth straight undefeated YSCC campaign after a 7-0 victory against York County on Thursday. The Mustangs finish the year 8-0-0 in conference play, running their winning streak to 35 straight games in YSCC regular season and playoff contests. They will have a first-round bye as the #1 seed, as they go in search of their fifth consecutive Yankee Small College Conference Tournament championship, having already won their fourth regular season title in a row.

Prior to kickoff, Central Maine honored eight of its graduating players as part of their "senior night" ceremony, including Cody Cleaveland, Guelor Kazadi, Stephan Samba, Mikel Soto, Mitch Cameron, Massimo Di Pilato, Harrison Garcia, and Matty Waters. They were joined by returning juniors Sam Boynton and Alfie Bashford who will also graduate this year.

It was Boynton who scored the game-winning goal in just the third minute of play. Midfielder Yoan Thériault was tripped in the box by defender Isaac Tshiamala and the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty. Boynton stepped up to take the kick, and the junior forward dispatched his shot past goalkeeper Ryen Royce for his first goal of the campaign. It was a just reward for the China, ME native who has spent time as a hardworking fullback this season after being named to the USCAA All-Tournament team last year.

The Hawks stayed resilient and were hard to break down. The second goal finally came in the 25^th minute, with the visitors being unlucky to concede. Waters cut in from the right wing on his left foot and laced a shot from 20 yards out that Royce appeared to have covered. The unfortunate Tshiamala then had his second bout of bad luck, as the defender attempted to block the effort, only to see it deflect off his foot, over his goalkeeper's head, and off the underside of the crossbar.

That seemed to open the floodgates. Less than a minute later, Cameron dribbled through two defenders to get free on the left side of the box. The sophomore from Northwich, England then sent an inch-perfect pass to the back post for a tap-in finish by Matthew Greco, who collected his 10^th goal of the season.

Cameron made it 4-0 with a goal of his own in the 32^nd minute. With the defensive line hemmed into their own attacking third, Samba picked out his open teammate with a chipped pass to the top of the six-yard box. The captain then did the rest, turning and prodding a left-footed shot past the keeper for a simple finish.

York County did well to keep the score down through the first half, with Royce making eight saves through the opening 45 minutes. The goalkeeper added another eight in the second half, as CMCC scored three more.

Daniel Semple scored just more than a minute after the restart on an assist from fellow first-year countryman Albie Fozard-Oakes. It was the 14^th goal of the season for the Frodsham, England native and 14^th assist for the Knutsford Academy product.

Thériault made it 6-0 with a drive low shot from into the bottom corner from 30 yards out. Waters then wrapped up the scoring in the 69^th minute with his second of the night, heading home a corner kick delivery from Greco for the defender's fourth goal of the year. Cleaveland finished with three saves on the other end to keep his seventh clean sheet in net for the Mustangs this season.

The Mustangs enter the postseason with an unbeaten 11-0-3 record, as the USCAA DII consensus #1 ranked team since the beginning of the year. They will face #5 seed Word of Life Bible Institute, on the Huskies' home field in the YSCC Tournament semifinals on Saturday, November 1^st in Pottersville, NY.